Monday, August 21, 2006

BCG' s session on Consulting Careers

Representatives from The Boston Consulting Group visited ISB on 17 August 2006 to conduct a session on “Careers in Consulting”. The main agenda of the session was to address the specific questions of students on careers in consulting and to dispel some of the common myths that enshroud the profession. The session was conducted by Arvind Subramaniam, Ravi Srivastava, Rohit Chhapolia, Vishal Sharma and Ramesh Jha.

The event started with the Arvind inviting specific questions and queries from the students. The key questions that were asked during the session were as follows:
What are the different types of Consulting?
How to make the most of the management programme at ISB from the perspective of making a career in Consulting?
What are the key characteristics that Consulting Firms look for in prospective candidate?
What does the life of a Consultant entail – Work Life balance?
What is the Career progression in a typical Consulting firm?
Myths about Consulting

The speakers started with clearly defining and differentiating between the different types of Consulting – Management, Functional and Operational. Further, they addressed the above mentioned questions by citing examples and instances from their own experiences and their career progression in the firm. They also gave an insight on the diversity of projects and engagements that they had handled and impressed on the fact that each engagement is unique to a large extent and entails its own set of challenges. The theme that emerged from the discussion was that Consulting is all about “Out of the Box” thinking and the tools and methodology used in one project cannot be blindly applied to all projects. They also gave an insight on the problems and challenges faced by them as consultants in their day to day work life and gave a perspective on how they went about overcoming these challenges. They elaborated on and dispelled some of the common myths that surround consulting and helped the students get a clear understanding of the profession as a whole.

Towards the end of the discussion, the speakers addressed specific questions regarding the recruitment process and how to prepare for the same. However, the specific details of the interview preparation process were not addressed and would be taken up in the interview specific sessions in the coming terms. It was a highly interactive session which ended with the speakers informally interacting with the students on a one on one basis. This exercise gave the students an opportunity to express their individual concerns and get answers to questions which were probably not answered during the session.

Posted by Sunanda

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Alum Interaction : Vijay Mulbagal

Vijay Mulbagal from class of 2006 was at the ISB today. He spoke at length about the various aspects of consulting and about his short span so far in the consulting world working with Diamond. Here are some key takeaways from the session:

1) Not everyone is cut out for consulting. Management Consulting is a glamorous job but at the same time it’s tiring, tedious and involves a lot of travel.
2) Grades and only grades are not important to make it to consulting. Each one of us has some unique achievements and it depends on how we bring that out in our resume’.
3) Resume building exercise should start early (may be now). A good resume plays a vital role in helping a candidate make a shortlist. People should get their resumes critically evaluated by peers and others and try to achieve perfection. The cover letters should be personalized and well written as well.
4) Vijay suggested some books that would be good to read towards preparation for consulting careers. The McKinsey way, McKinsey mind, The Pyramid principle ( by Barbara Minto) and Say it with charts were some of the books he suggested.
5) It is very important that one understands the key qualities required for consulting jobs. Flexible(read long) hours, frequent travel and working with ambiguity are a part and parcel of consulting. Qualities like good interpersonal skills and ability to communicate effectively are extremely important.
6) You should not choose to get into consulting just because it is glamorous. You have to make sure that you are cut out for it ( i.e to say you will be happy doing it). If you lack the qualities and still feel passionate about consulting, you should work on developing them.
7) There is a huge world outside consulting. There are many people who have not gone into consulting and yet are very well placed ( i.e earning well and happy with their job content!). Finally its only the industry guys who make the headlines.
8) It is very important to understand individual firm culture. Every firm is unique and has it’s own strengths and limitations. An aspirant should choose his/her target firm after evaluating the best fit according to his/her preferences.
9) Vijay also spoke at length about his experience with Diamond so far, the kind of work Diamond is looking to doing in India and overall culture at Diamond.

The Consulting club would like to thank Vijay for taking time out and being with us.

Posted by Venkat